Always Hold On
by TheDarkestAngel2000
Summary: After Melina's death, the Immortal Once-ler is trying to cope with it. Something is hanging around the house, and has got The Lorax worried. Meanwhile, Ted and Audrey are together but then something turns up that threatens to destroy their relationship. What is happening? (Sequel to 'Never Let Go')
1. Not Over

Writers Note: some of the ideas in this story came from a writer called El Ohkin, so I'm thanking you right now, man. I hope everyone likes!

The shot had been loud and quick, it took only a second for Melina to fall to the ground in shock. "What? No, NO! I can't lose you again!" Once-ler dropped to the ground and cradled Melina in his arms. Everything hurt so bad to her, "You won't lose me Once. I'll always be here." Her weak hand came to his chest. "This is un-fair." His voice sounded shattered. "No it's not. Because I get to be near you. Forever." She wanted to hug him until she blacked out, but all she managed to do was grab at his suit. She smiled, "I thought you said you were gonna get rid of that." She could feel his sadness as she turned to dust and flowed into Once-ler's heart. They could feel each other and spoke together. "Forever and For Always." Knowing she was truly gone, Once-ler shed tears.

When the cool night fell, Melina's body was buried next to Cruiso's in 'Unless'. She was buried with roses and newly bloomed flowers the animals had made into a type of tiara. Her face looked so frail and innocent, but it was dead. Truly dead, and nothing but it. Once-ler felt eternally alone now, because he was made immortal by Melina and would go on living...without her. For the following weeks he cried himself to sleep. He thought it was awful spending every night by himself thinking she was dead, now Knowing she was dead was much much worse. The Lorax tried comforting him, but it never worked. Once-ler felt, not that she was in his heart, but when she died his heart went with her.

One night around midnight, Once-ler was asleep. "Once. Once." The voice was echoey and distant, but the more it spoke the more louder it got. Until it was right near his ear. "Once." He bolted up and looked around. Nothing. He came to the conclusion that it must be grieving and nerves and went back to sleep. All he could think about and dream about was Her. She was always there. And he would give up his life for her to live. The next morning he felt cold shivers in some places and found a few things to be moved. But it didn't matter anymore. "Once." "Hello?" He walked into the lounge room. Nothing, but he felt another cold shiver and turned around. There on the dinning table written in syrup was, 'Melina' He felt scared, when The Lorax walked in he shivered. "Why was it so cold?" Once still starred at the table. He was Very frightened.

In town, Ted's mum and Grammy had returned from their trip. First question asked by Norma was 'how was the girl?' The answer: she left. Aside from that, Ted and Audrey had actually started hanging out more. A relationship was clearly in view. But like any other relationship, this one wasn't perfect. It had its ups and downs. They would argue about little things like where to go or what to do, but the arguments didn't last long. They were practically the perfect couple. Audrey's paintings were becoming more frequent and she was nearly making a career out of it. She would paint things and some people would buy them. That's where she and Ted met someone. Audrey had gotten a letter.

'Dear Ms Audrey,

I am new in town, but I have seen some of your paintings and I admire them. Especially the ones with Truffula Trees. I am interested in purchasing one. My address is 24 Lanebird Drive.

Yours Sincerely C. Merrywood'

Excited to have a new customer, they happily delivered a painting the next day. The door was opened by a girl with dark brown eyes, raven hair, Palish skin, no shoes, jeans and a dark blue t-shirt on. They handed her the painting and she lit up by it. "Oh thank you. This will look So Good on my bedroom wall." She turned back to them. "Oh I'm so sorry, I haven't introduced myself." Her voice sounded young, lovely and sweet like honey. It sounded exceptional since she was 13. She extended her hand, "My name is Cadence Merrywood. I just moved here." Audrey shook it, "My name's Audrey, and this is Ted." She shook Teds hand, "Pleased to meet you." She said, "Uh, would you guys like to come in? Have some juice or something?" Audrey shook her head, "No thanks, we should get going." Cadence smiled, "Oh well, it was nice to meet you and feel free to drop by any time."

As the door closed, both minds were reeling. Audrey's about how sweet and kind that girl was, Ted's about something similar but different. The whole time they walked back Audrey noticed that Ted seemed to be thinking about something although he hid it relatively well. "Where do you think she moved from?" He wondered out loud, "Maybe from across the sea or somewhere." Answered Audrey. She seemed slightly worried, but managed to tell herself that it wasn't going to matter. Everything was fine.

That night, Once-ler woke once again to someone calling his name. He looked to the side of his bed to see a slightly transparent person, giving off a pale blueish glow, kneeling by the bed staring at him. He froze. She floated up, her long pale hair slowly flying around in the air. She leaned, more like slowly flew, in closer to him her left arm outstretched. It came up to his chin but before it could touch him, he back off to the wall and pulled the sheets up. She looked hurt and disappeared. So frightened with what he saw, Once-ler failed to recognised who was right near him.

The girl traveled down to 24 Lanebird Drive. The house was empty, all except for the young girl who lived there. "Cadence. Cadence sweetie, wake up." Cadence opened her eyes and looked at the woman, she turned to her right beside table and looked at a photo. The transparent girl smiled at it and looked at Cadence. "Is that you?" The ghostly girl nodded. Cadence smiled, "I always wondered what you'd look like." The transparent girl floated down to her and sat on the bed, she smiled at Cadence. "You look very sweet, I wished I could've been there when you were little just to know you." Cadence adjusted and sat cross-legged, "Yeah, I wish that too. But I don't think you'd be missing out on much, cause I don't have a family. I live by myself." The ghost girl put a hand on Cadences hand that was resting on her feet. "You do have a family Cadence, you just don't know it yet." Cadence hugged the girl, "I've seen you in my dreams. Can I know your name? I know what you mean and who you are to me, and I've been seeing this other guy in my dreams. I've drawn a picture." She let go and pulled a piece of paper from under her bed.

It showed a boy and girl hugging under a start sky and full moon. "Do you know him?" The ghost nodded, "Yeah, I knew him." "Will you tell me about him?" The ghost girl shook her head, "No...not tonight. Another time, maybe. But I can tell you one thing." She floated up. "You have the same fashion sense." Cadence looked at what she was wearing and looked back at the ghost who smiled and disappeared. Cadence hid the drawing back under her bed and went to sleep. She thought about last naming herself when she was old enough. She thought to herself the one name that had always been at the back of her head that she had always loved. Dustarn. It was a beautiful name that she thought represented strength and mortality. Saying that nothing could change who she was.

Later it rained, a stormy rain. And she bolted straight up and found herself unusually calling, 'Mommy' The word felt unused and strange in her mouth. She had never once said it, but secretly deep down inside she wanted to. The rain had always been a favourite of hers. She slipped down the stairs and out into the backyard next to the pool. She stepped out of the roof covering and danced in the rain. Outside Ted was powering through the rain when he heard laughter. He peered over the tall fence and saw Cadence twirling in the rain laughing. "Wow." He accidentally slipped off the fence and caused Cadence to stop dancing and inspect the noise. She looked over to see Ted rubbing his head on the ground. "Oh gosh, Ted, stay right there." She ran through the house and out the door to help him up. "Are you alright? What are you doing out here?" Ted got to his feet, "I was leaving Audrey's house after helping her with some things when I heard something from your backyard." She laughed and guided him into the house.

She set him on a towel on the lounge and wrapped a towel around him. "It's a cold rain tonight." She said, "What about you? Why haven't you got a towel?" She wrapped a small towel around her hair. "I don't need one, except for this of course. I've uh, I've never gotten sick. I guess I'm just lucky. And you don't have to worry about waking anybody we're the only two in the house, since I live alone." Ted looked confused, "How? What happened?" She sighed and sat down next to him. "I don't know where I was born, but I was raised by street families who cared for me until I was ten. Then they couldn't support me so I went off on my own and learnt about the world through books. I grow my own fruit and veg and live off them. And it is mandatory for people to get free water delivered to them so that's how I get my water." She looked down at her feet smiling, "But I know that my real parents are out there...somewhere." She looked back at him, "I can't send you home through a storm, so you can sleep here tonight."

Early morning, Once-ler wakes. To kind face looking at him. A dead face. He staggered back but a hand came up. "Don't be scared. It's O.K." "Who are you? What do you want?!" "What do you mean?" The face softened, "You don't recognise me?" He looked at it. The features became softer, the face became feminine, the hair became white, the dress became deathly pale, and the hand he tried to hold went right through him. "Melina?" She smiled and started to cry. Her tears sparkled. "What are you doing here? I thought you were dead." She looked at her hands. "I am. I'm just bound to here. To you." She waved a hand through his face. "But I can't feel anything." He wanted to hug her, but he WOULD go right through her. "Oh Once!" She was happy and crying. "I'm just so glad to be near you right now! And later when everything so straightened out, maybe when we find a remedy for this, I want to tell you something." "What is it?" "It can wait, go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

There you have it! Say-What-You-Think! Please!


	2. Important Things

Audrey sat on her bed, pencil clacking against her jaw. She been trying to write a song all morning. She'd only gotten a few lines down, but the rest was still in the making. That Cadence girl seemed very sweet, but there was just something about her that Audrey simply didn't trust. Her phone rang and she picked it up. "Hello?" "Hello, Audrey? This is Cadence. I'm sorry for just calling you like this, but Ted gave me your number last night." Audrey was stumped, "last night?" "Oh, he didn't tell you? He stayed at my house last night because he fell off a fence and the wind was a bit strong for him to get home." Okay, now That was a little bit weird. "Um, so yeah...I was wondering if you knew the name of that guy who invented the Thneed?" Audrey raised an eyebrow, and worse down another line. "Why? You want to find out Thneedville history or something?" "No, not really. I just want to find out who thought it up, because I like the product. I have one of each colour."

Audrey decided not to tell her that the creator lived just outside of Thneedville, so she said about half the truth. "I'm not exactly sure, I think their name was Ace-ler or something." "O.K, um does Ted know anything?" "Not that i'm aware of." "Oh. Well, thanks." She hung up. Audrey scribbled more lines on and thought hard to herself why she had wanted to lie and deceive Cadence. A sweet and charming young girl who only wanted help. For some reason she wanted Cadence as far away form Ted as possible. Could she be jealous? What, Audrey jealous? No. How could she be jealous of Cadence? She hadn't done anything to offend Audrey. Had she?

Cadence put the phone down and hopped on her laptop on her bed. She googled 'Ace-ler' No Results. Then she saw something that said, 'Search Results Once-ler'. Curious, she clicked on it and immediately more results than she could count came up. She 'Favourited' it and looked up the video results. She looked at all the video results, adverts and interviews were most common. Cadence scrolled down until she saw some thing that said 'Thneed Creator Proposes To Thneed Fiancée'. She clicked on it and watched a video recorded for a camera of a guy in a green suit proposing to a beautiful girl with unusually long white hair in a red sparkly dress. Cadence felt her hair, it was strange. This girls hair went down to the end of her spine whilst her hair only went down to the middle of her spine. The exact middle length of the girls. How could someone's hair be so long?

She watched more videos and read everything she could before she had to lay down. The Thneed Creator, The Once-ler, and his fiancée, this Melina girl, they were in her dreams. Melina also looked like the ghost that had visited her the previous night. Could it be her? Maybe she could use what was in her favourite books to draw her out? Now There was a possibility! Cadence gathered candles and her books. There was writing that suggested that one could summon a ghost for a visit. It said you had to have candles, herbs and spices, and something that was uniquely close to that person like a piece of hair or a belonging. That's where Cadence found confusion. She didn't have anything 'uniquely' this person. That's when the idea came to her, in order to find out about this girl she would have to find The Once-ler! If he's still alive, and then she can talk with this Melina girl! First thing when night falls, head to the library!

Melina watched Once-ler while he slept, since she felt no need for it anymore being dead and all, she somehow found joy in watching him. She noticed things she never noticed before, like him talking in his sleep and how he breathed so softly and quietly. She put a hand on his chest. And even though she knew he couldn't feel her and her hand went right through him, SHE Could Feel HIM. And he felt like Love. Plain ol' wonderful love. She floated downstairs and saw The Lorax going through the paper on the couch. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You read the Newspaper?" He jumped at the sound of a voice. He looked at her catching his breath with wide eyes. "Melina?!" "Nice to see you too." She floated down on the lounge opposite him. "I...I thought you were dead!" She shrugged with her arms up. "I yam what I yam. A ghost." She put her arms down, "I'm bound to Once, so unless he lets me go I stay here. But here's the thing, I don't want to go. There's no cure for deadness, so I'm just glad that I can be even the slightest bit close to him."

"Hey." There he stood, the picture of health. She beamed, "Hi, sleep well." He smiled, but her face dropped to sadness. "What? What is it?" She looked at him in the eyes. "I can hear you. Your thoughts. You think it would have been better if I was next to you. Well I can't be. Not like this." She got up and walked to the wall. "If only there was a cure for this Rotten curse!" She punched the wall but her hand went straight through it which Enflamed her more. Once-ler came behind her, "Look Melina, it's O.K. W...we can work this out." Her back still to him, she replied "I hope your right."

"Once-ler! Once-ler!" A voice came flowing outside. Melina looked through a wall to see a girl running to the house. "Cadence!" She exclaimed and popped back inside. "Who?" Asked Once-ler, "She's special, O.K? She's...Don't let her down." She faded into the wall out of the house. A knock came from the door, The Lorax hid in the kitchen while Once-ler opened it. A 13 year old girl stood in the doorway, her black raven hair almost sparkled in the sunlight, her excited expression was all that needed to be asked. "Are you The Once-ler?" "Yeah?" "Great!" She walked into the house. "Sorry about the entry, but I've got So Much to tell you! First off, my name is Cadence, and I've seen your fiancée!" Once-ler shut the door and look confused, "What?" Cadence sat down, the back of her hair fell down to her front. Once-ler sat next to her and looked at her raven hair, the whole thing went down to a single curl.

"Your fiancée, the elegant Miss Melina Dustarn, she visited me the other night. And I've been seeing you two in my dreams, which I think means something. Um...I was wondering, have you seen her?" Melina appeared behind her and shook her head quickly before disappearing. "No. No, I haven't seen her. Did she say anything to you?" Cadence shook her head, "No, nothing really. Except that you and I have the same taste in night time clothing. See, every night I sleep with jammies on. They're blue with little yellow butterflies on them. But yeah since I don't really know you, I'm not going to unload anymore or ask any personal questions. Um, I guess I'll be going now."

She got up and walked to the door, "Oh, but if Melina DOES talk to you or anything..." She took out a small piece of paper and a pen. "Here's my home phone number. I have a mobile phone, but I keep that for people I know. And right now that's a very short list." She waved, "Oh, and to your hiding friend. You don't have to cower away, I won't hurt you." Once-ler looked surprised, "But how did...?" "It's a gift I think, I can sense people from long distances. So everyone in the room isn't a secret to me." She smiled and grabbed the door handle. "Well...bye."

She closed the door and Once-ler and Melina watched her skip/run down to town. The Lorax jumped onto the couch. "How could she 'sense' me? I was behind the bench in the kitchen!" Melina smiled, "Maybe she can see through walls. Can I have her phone number?" Once-ler took it out and held it in front. "Sure. But, I'm pretty sure you won't feel anyth-" she held it. He tried to feel her but once again, transparency took its toll. "I'm gonna keep this. For her sake." "But how can you feel that and nothing else?" Asked Once-ler, Melina shrugged. "I told you she was special didn't I? Uh, I'll see you later. I'm gonna go for a walk."

Cadence shut and locked her front door and switched don the stereo. She adjusted her MP3 player and scrolled through her songs. She finally landed on a song called 'Pocketful Of Sunshine' by Natasha Bedingfield. She started singing along to it.

"Take me away

A secret place

A sweet escape

Take me away

Take me away

To better days

Take me away

A hiding place."

She laughed and started singing into a broom. The phone suddenly rang and she turned down the music, and picked it up. "Yah low?" "Cadence? This is Melina Dustarn." Cadence smiled, "I've always liked that name for some reason." "Dustarn? Hmm, well, I must ask you a favour. And at some point I must tell you something." "What is it?" "Just meet me by 'Unless' tonight. But be quiet and careful." Cadence nodded, "O.K." She hung up, but was a little worried. Was Melina going to do something to her? Best bring some protection just in case. But Melina didn't strike Cadence as the harm inflicting type, so...maybe she just wanted a simple favour. Nothing too much, nothing too little. Just simple. She hoped.

Sorry it took so long, but you'd be surprised what's goin' ON in my life. But yeah, anyway. I apologise if this strikes you as short but for some reason I'm running a bit low on ideas. El, the ideas you have proposed are wonderful, but if anyone has any tiny suggestions that would be helpful. I think I might be getting writers block or something.

Rock On!


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